mliebs8

Believe it or not I do dye in that room, so far I've only spilled 1 drop of edge coat on the carpet. I'm a clean freak so everday night when I'm finished I straighten everthing up so it pretty much looks like that most of the time. I have my bigger tools in the garage so it's kind of a 2 room operation. The sewing machine is the Artisan 3000. I'd like to see some pics of other shops to get some ideas. Thanks for the compliments everyone.

It may not be much but it's mine. The bigger equipment is in the garage but t<center> <a href="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2135.jpg" target="_blank"> <img src="<A href='http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2135.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2135.jpg"></a> <a href="<A href="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2138.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2138.jpg" target="_blank"><center> <img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2135.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br> <img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2138.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br> </center> <img src="<A href='http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2138.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2138.jpg"></a> </center>his is what I have going so far. Hope everyone likes it.

Looks good, I like the way it seems to be nice and tight to the body. Can you post some pics of the back of the holster. When I first looked at the pictures I said to myself what and the H*** is that brass ring he has attatched to it. I know, I'm an idiot.

I like it alot, I've been wanting to try a pattern similiar to that for awhile now. What kind of metal did you use for the reinforcement? Once again it looks great!

How do makers like Milt Sparks get their holsters to mould so hard? I have one here and it's super stiff.

liveneasy, the holster is made with 7/8 drum dyed leather from Wickett and Craig. The final finish is Angelus Acrylic 600, and the strap is actually removeable so it's attatched through the snaps. Boomstick and Temporary thanks for the compliments.

I'm sure he's going to love the setup. Very nice work, I like the tomahawk cover. Excellent job.

I know I've posted similiar holsters before but I know everyone likes pictures (at leasdt I do). Boomstick this stitch pattern is growing on me, I thought about wrapping it around the trigger guard but I like the way it looks different. What does everyone else think? Thanks, Mike

Ok, I'll go out on a limb here and give my opinion. First off, it looks great for the design and you obviously put alot of work into the holster and it looks great. However, when you try and draw the weapon from your pocket I"m 99.9% + another 99.9% sure the hammer is going to grab your pocket and the weapon will be unholsterable. Even if the hammer didn't hook on the pocket your still looking at alot of debris that's going to be in the cylinder/frame/trigger area. I do have to admit I am impressed with your work, I think if you make a few small changes you'll have a very nice holster. Once again, this is only my opinion.

I'm just using a basic 20 ton bottle neck press to do the dies.

I had a few clicker dies made and didn't really understand why they were called clicker dies. After I pressed out my first piece I think I know why they call them clicker dies but I just wanted to make sure. Is it normal for the press to make a loud pop when the piece is pressed out? The first time I did it I almost had a heart attack, I actually thought my press broke.

Yes I'm using the Artisan 3000. I cut about 50% of the press foot off but it's still a pain to sew when it's moulded. I really need to grind the bottom of the inside presser foot off so it doesn't make marks on the corners, I'm putting a piece of felt under it now but sometimes I forget to do it. I get nervous sewing it at the end because I've been so close to being finished a couple of times and ended up making a mistake. Randy, I'm only using the Angelus finish. The leather I'm using is drum dyed so I don't have to die the exterior at all. The way it rides really depends on the gun, for the G26 if you go to deep you can't get a grip on the gun to pull it out of the holster because the butt is so short. I've made a few for my 3" 1911 and was able to have it deeper because of the bigger butt. Almost forgot, the color is Chestnut

Well the finish I used this time was Angelus acrylic 600 (recommended by you). The interior was applied with a dauber but the outside was applied with an air brush. I'm extremely happy with the finish inside and out, this will be the only thing I'm going to use from now on. The edges were dyed then burnished with yankee wax (also recommended by you) and as a final treatment I did a light coat of edge coat. You can't tell from the pictures but my edges have never looked so good, this is the way I'll be doing them from now on. I stitch after I mould so I wanted to get close to the trigger guard and frame. I should have completed it around the trigger guard but I wasn't thinking.

For some reason my pictues never work on here, they always work on other websites. <center><img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2106.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br><img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2105.jpg" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"><br><br></center><center><a href="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2105.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2105.jpg"></a></center>Ok last try.

Here's a pic of one of the holsters I did this weekend. I've been playing around with different finish<center> <a href="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2106.jpg" target="_blank"> <img src="<A href='http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2106.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2106.jpg"></a> <a href="<A href="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2105.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/DSCN2105.jpg" target="_blank"> <img src="<A href='http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2105.jpg">http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/mliebs8/th_DSCN2105.jpg"></a> </center>es and really like this one alot. Thanks to Boomstick this stuff is starting to come around.

I just finished an IWB holster and used resolene to finish the interior and it turned out pretty nice. The problem I have is that the gun mould seems to pop when you pull the gun out. Is there anything I can do to make it less tacky so to speak. It feels super smooth but it almost seems like the finish is sticking to the gun when you try to pull it out.

The money I spent on my 3000 was a drop in the bucket compared to the money I've saved from the outstanding customer support I've received from Steve and Dave. I've never seen a company be so helpful with their products. I've called with problems from the product itself and problems from user error (which is 99% of them) and they have been helpful, friendly, and very supportive. With all BS aside, I've never bought a product (ever) and had such a great experience. If I'm ever fortunate enough to have a decent size production shop Artisan will be the only machine I'd consider.

I've been using Neat Lac to finish my holsters and the finish always turns out nice, but I wanted to start using Resolene so I bought some the other day. After spraying the Resolene it doesn't seem as slick as the Neat Lac, the finish looks good but it almost feels a little tacky. Is this normal? I didn't thin the Resolene at all if that matters and they are both being applied with an air brush.

If you want them you can have them.

I have Dusty Johnsons Holster making DVD and a book from John Bianchi called Blue Steel & Gunleather that I would like to give away to someone that is just starting out and needs a little bit of information. All I'm asking for is to pay the shipping (probably about $7 for USPS Priority. I think it would be nice to keep passing this stuff around for people just starting out, this website has been a huge help for me so I'd like to give back to the community so to speak.

I use an Iwata Eclipse BCS and am very happy with it, I'm using it for the final finish on my hoslters and it's always flawless. Now if I could just get my leather work flawless I'd be set.

Kevin, After looking at it again your 100% correct (I looked at it after I read your post). I ordered the same thing as last time but oh well, I'm sure it was my mistake due to my lack of experience. Thanks for the reply it's greatly apprecaited.

I ordered from Wickett and Craig and was very happy with my order. I just order 3 more pieces and it arrived today and the leather is less than desirable. The first order basically looked like two strips about 3 feet high and 6-7 feet long, the new order looks like the entire cow minus the head and tail. When I lay this stuff out it's basically the entire side of the cow including parts of the leg, and some of the surface is rough while some of the back is rough also. This is drum dyed by the way. Does anyone know what the difference is in the two? When I first unrolled it out the pieces looked like the United States.

I don't have the exact thread count on mine but the top tension is about flush (no threads showing) and the next one probably has about 4-5 threads showing in the nut.

I can't seem to get the prongs through the leather, I have a holster here that the prongs are slightly through the leather and they are bent over to secure it. Do you think just having them into the leather would be good enough?